Kessie's Short Stories

[Legends][Mega AU] Ghosts

Originally published 4/30/2018

Ghosts.

Just the word tickled Matilda Caskett's fancy. It was either because her father liked telling her stories of them, or he encouraged her belief. Regardless, at the ripe age of eight, Matilda Caskett had her heart set on meeting a ghost some day.

Of course, ghosts just don't appear to you overnight. Well, they could, just not for Matilda.

Eight year old Matilda was an absolute disgrace in the ghost hunting ambition. All she ever did was talk about finding ghosts, or imagine that a ghost was next to her. No, it was Matilda Caskett at eight years and nine months who decided to find a library to gather information on the poltergeists. Finding the library had been a hard one- she and her father had only arrived on the island some days prior. Despite Barrel Caskett being a retired Digger, the two of them traveled around quite a bit. Matilda didn't mind it all too much, but if she couldn't find a library soon, she was going to go insane!

Matilda couldn't remember were her father had went, but he had told her to stay in town. He would have preferred that she stay on their airship, but Matilda didn't like being treated like a kid. She needed to know where everything was on this island, right down to the smallest weed peeking its way through the sidewalk. Being stuck in the tiny airship was not how she was going to do that. It was a good thing that they had landed so close to town center- she wouldn't have to walk as far.

For the most part, this island was rather sleepy. Right outside the town gates was a small store, Matilda entered with a small shrug, figuring it was a better place than any to ask about a library. Inside the store were some counters holding candy and quick foodstuffs, along with maps for any travelers. Matilda took a quick peek through some of them, but none had any information on the town itself, just the surrounding area and its ruins. Letting out a small, impatient huff, Matilda walked over to the cashier.

"Well, hello there kiddo." the cashier greeted the child with a smile. "What can I help you with today?"

Matilda, who was not quite tall enough to completely see over the high counter, propped herself up by the elbows and stood on her tiptoes to look at the cashier properly.

"Do you know where the library is?" Matilda asked with a single blink.

"Of course." the cashier nodded. "When you leave the store, go straight. It's on the other side of the bank, you can't miss it- the sign is in big red letters and reads 'The Great Library of Alexandria Island.'"

"Thank you." the child nodded as she started to head in that direction.

It annoyed her that the counter to see the librarian was even taller than the one at the store. Matilda's feet were just barely dangling above the floor as she used her elbows to prop herself help.

"Can you tell me where the books about ghost are?" the girl asked. "The nonfiction ones, not the kiddie ones."

The librarian seemed to take a moment to realize the child was there before giving her a curious look.

"Not the kiddie ones?" the librarian repeated with a small raise of their eyebrow. "Then I guess you want the ones in section with the subject code 103-104-111-115-116."

"Thank you." Matilda replied before working herself back down off the counter- nearly falling over in the process. The librarian watched the girl in wonder as she wandered alone through the shelves. She found the right number with incredible ease and started to browse until something caught her eye.

That was when a small glimmer of something captured Matilda's attention. It had lasted for a moment, but her attention was drawn to a book that looked a bit smaller than the rest. Curious now, Matilda tried to reach for the book and found that she was too short. After quickly finding a stool nearby, the girl used it to get the book down; the cover was nothing too fancy, and it read 'Ghosts: Remnants of New-Old Technology or Figments of Our Imagination?.' It looked very promising to the girl so she took it over to a seating area and started to pour over the contents.